October 2007

October 31, 2007

Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, a fallen DoJ star who landed the first post-9/11 terrorism convictions, was acquitted Wednesday of charges that he withheld records from defense attorneys in the now-infamous Detroit “sleeper cell” trial in 2003. A federal judge later reversed the convictions, after a DoJ investigation concluded that the prosecution was rickety and that Convertino had played dirty to firm it up. For a history of how things went south, read our story from August here.

Winston & Strawn partner William Sullivan, Convertino’s defense attorney, sent the BLT a euphoric message from his Blackberry: “Complete victory and vindication!!!”

Also acquitted in U.S. District Court in Detroit was former U.S. Embassy security agent Ray Smith, who allegedly conspired with Convertino to withold the records. The jury began deliberations Tuesday, after three weeks of trial. (Read about it here in the Detroit Free Press.) Convertino, who now has his own practice in Michigan, never took the stand.

He faced charges of conspiring to obstruct justice, making false declarations before the court, and obstructing justice, but Convertino and Sullivan have always maintained that he was scapegoated for his criticism of the Justice Department’s handling of the war on terrorism. He has a whistleblower suit simmering in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. His win in the criminal case is bound to make things interesting for Justice lawyers. Stay tuned.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe filed a lawsuit against Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne today, accusing him of undue delay and acting in bad faith over the tribe's application to put a casino by the Monticello Raceway in New York.

The application has been essentially complete since February, but Interior still must issue a determination. The tribe's attorneys say it's unprecedented for the step to take this long, and say Kempthorne's personal feelings about off-reservation gambling are what's holding it up. Read Legal Times' story about the issue here.

In a statement about the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. today, the tribe says the suit is meant to compel Kempthorne to take action on the tribe's application within 30 days. The tribe says their requests to meet with Kempthorne have received no response, despite efforts by New York officials and the New York Congressional delegation, including Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Charles Rangel.

Kempthorne, a former governor of Idaho, has publicly said he opposes off-reservation gaming, and officials at Interior say Kempthorne is working to reconcile his past stance with his current role as a trustee when it comes to gaming. The department is also considering new regulations that would make approval of such applications less likely. But in the meantime, more and more tribes have been complaining about delays processing applications at Interior. The complaints triggered a hearing this month by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and Chairman Byron Dorgan (D-ND) called department backlogs "unacceptable."

Dear D.C. lawyer: Your financial adviser may be earning more than you are. According to Financial Advisor Magazine, a survey of around 3,000 financial advisers found that investment generalists had an average annual salary of $279,000. And "wealth managers," who reportedly are better able to appeal to affluent clients -- presumably including big firm partners -- earned an average of $881,000.

That's a lot of money, particularly for a subject that frequently can be less complex than many sophisticated D.C. legal practices. If you have a financial adviser, make sure he or she isn't a bad one, and consider ways to reduce your advisory costs.

Today a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia has granted GlaxoSmithKline’s request for a temporary injunction on the Patent Office’s new patent prosecution rules. The rules, which will limit the use of continuing applications, were scheduled to go into effect tomorrow.

As evidence of how much it would be harmed by the new rules, the pharmaceutical giant noted in its complaint that it has 100 or more pending applications in which two or more continuations or continuations-in-part have been filed.

Lobbyists who oppose expanding the budget and role of the Consumer Product Safety Commission have an interesting ally: the acting head of the agency.

Acting chairman Nancy A. Nord is opposing parts of a Senate bill that would increase the agency's funding, raise the cap on civil penalties and assign the agency a more aggressive role in investigating violations, The Washington Post reports here. The bill comes after a summer of recalls in the toy industry, when children's playthings manufactured by Mattel were found to contain unsafe levels of lead. In response to Nord's opposition, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called on her to step down.

The bill was passed by a committee, but many business groups are lobbying against it. They say it will fuel expensive, unnecessary lawsuits. For instance, The National Association of Manufacturers' Consumer Product Safety Commission Coalition issued a press release citing "grave concerns" about the legislation, and said the increased penalties "will promote litigation rather than cooperation, and in turn will lead to much more delay in taking action to address unsafe products and protect the public."

Kyle Sampson has reportedly surfaced at Hunton & Williams in the firm’s food and drug practice. Sampson was the chief of staff to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a key player who resigned amid controversy earlier this year over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys from the Justice Department.

How do you get an in-house attorney to open an e-mail attachment or click on a web link? Use this subject line: “Harassment Complaint Update For.”

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is warning companies about a phishing e-mail that appears to come from the agency, complete with an EEOC logo. But the fake e-mail contains a “trojan horse” that is “likely to harm a recipient’s computer.”

The EEOC reminds us that when it notifies an employer of the filing of an employment discrimination complaint, it uses the good old U.S. Postal System.

He lost his $54 million lawsuit against a Northeast Washington dry cleaner, and now Roy Pearson Jr. has lost his job, The Washington Post reports. A judicial committee voted last week against extending Pearson a 10-year term at the Office of Administrative Hearings, and yesterday, the (former) judge was unceremoniously cast out of his office, sources tell the Post.

The panel had a seven-page letter hand-delivered to Pearson about 3:30 p.m., directing him to leave his office by 5 p.m. Pearson's term ended in May, at the height of his battle with the dry cleaners. Since then, he has remained on the payroll, making $100,000 a year as an attorney adviser.

The lawsuit, of course, was over a pair of pants that Pearson brought in for $10.50 worth of alterations. But, according to the sources, the suit barely factored into his dismissal, unless taken as evidence of Pearson’s personality, which grated on his colleagues, apparently. He was criticized for acting “combative” toward his bosses and peers, and for ignoring policies in drafting opinions.

You’ll recall that in August we wrote about Pearson’s bumpy two-year tenure on the court. Just three months into the gig, Pearson sent a 14-page letter to then-Mayor Anthony Williams urging him “to inquire into whether corrupt ethics, demonstrably poor judgment and failed leadership constitute good cause” to remove Chief Administrative Law Judge Tyrone Butler, Pearson’s boss. The letter flowed from a minor misunderstanding over the starting date and length of Pearson’s term.

Fourteen pages of invective over a start date. Fifty four million dollars over a pair of pants. Sounds like someone has anger issues -- and now, employment issues. Go figure.

The Senate Judiciary Committee today announced that it will meet next Tuesday to consider Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general.

Mukasey, nominated Sept. 17 by President George W. Bush to replace former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, has run into opposition from several senators for his stance on torture techniques and presidential powers.

His refusal to categorically denounce the interrogation practice known as waterboarding and other answers to written questions submitted after his Oct. 17-18 confirmation hearings have not satisfied most lawmakers. Here are letters and documents released by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Mukasey.

Some Democrats have said they will vote against confirming him, but it's unclear how many will do so.

"I am sorry to impose this additional burden during a very busy time for all Senators, and I thank them for their cooperation," said committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) at a hearing this morning. "My hope is that by scheduling the consideration for next Tuesday, Senators will have an opportunity to consider the recently received written responses from the nominee and will be prepared to debate the nomination and vote."

Got your Larry Craig costume ready and worried about an awkward encounter on Capitol Hill? Turns out Craig can't stop you. Slate explains here why famous people are fair game for Halloween costumes. Clip it out and bring it trick-or-treating - just in case. You never know which presidential candidate will decide to be home and handing out candy.